I didn't really see this mentioned before so just thought I would post in case people have not heard.

I think I've seen others in the past affected by this, but recently Apple has announced a MacBook Pro repair programme for units which have been affected by the GPU errors which have plagued a large number of people.

The replacement programme covers units purchased between February 2011 and December 2013, and these models in particular:

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (17-inch Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, Early 2013)

The problems it must exhibit are listed as:

An affected MacBook Pro may display one or more of the following symptoms:

Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen

No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on

Computer restarts unexpectedly

The replacement programme runs for a year from 27 February (US and Canada from 20 February). It does say that Apple will be contacting people who have paid for a repair through Apple or Apple Authorised dealers, though people who have done that may want to contact them directly.

I have a MBP which has been affected by this, so have been waiting for a programme like this. I feel sorry for those who may have gotten their units re-balled at 3rd party repairers, or just sold off their MBP cheaply for parts. It has been rather frustrating for a large number of people have have encountered this issue, but have discovered a roadblock when Apple did not acknowledge the issues faced.

If you have one kicking around that needs repairing, check for eligibility (via the link) and get it done. Else if you did shell out a few hundred for a repair, I would try and get in touch with Apple to get a refund.

Good luck!Yann

Twitter »

Follow us to receive Twitter updates when new discussions are posted in our forums: